


Comedy of Errors

by Shizuna610



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: (idiot.....it's not like that), And Kaito needs Shinichi advice now, And.....Shinichi drops the bomb, Guess who he decides to ask?, Hakuba and Shinichi don't know what the heck is happening, Heists, IT IS COMPLETE NOW, KID impostor, Kaito doesn't know Shinichi and Conan are the same, Kaito gains new blackmail material, Kaito is evil, Kaito is surprisingly oblivious, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining!Shinichi, Poor Kaito, Shinichi can never do anything normally, both of them are complete idiots, he probably felt like someone slapped him with a fish, poor impostor, rant, so much chaos, two heists, two kids, vs fangirl Shinichi, yush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2018-10-17 18:24:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10599615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shizuna610/pseuds/Shizuna610
Summary: “KID!”  Shinichi exclaimed the moment his eyes landed on the teen Hakuba Saguru had brought along handcuffed to himWritten for Shana_Fujioka's prompt 'The Rant'





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [KaiShin/ShinKai Prompts](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8635951) by [Shana_Fujioka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shana_Fujioka/pseuds/Shana_Fujioka). 



“KID!” Shinichi exclaimed the moment his eyes landed on the teen Hakuba Saguru had brought along handcuffed to him (Shinichi wasn’t sure he wanted to know the details). Hakuba _had_ mentioned something about having a ‘perfect fit’ to KID’s identity and claimed that he would show proof when the next heist notice had come out targeting a pair of solid gold statuettes of some Indian deities which were on loan from said country.

Shinichi hadn’t been too sure…..while he respected his fellow detective and was well aware of his intelligence, Hakuba tended to lack imagination and stick to a particular solution, not making sufficient effort to consider other seemingly improbable possibilities. 

_Except this time it seems as though he has hit bullseye_ Shinichi thought as he studied the brunet as the blond detective approached closer to Shinichi’s location. Same height, possibly same hair, same skin tone, same face structure, slightly different voice, startlingly similar eyes (blue? Purple? Shinichi couldn’t quite pin the shade) as the Kaitou KID and well…..himself (not surprising, considering the amount of times KID had disguised as him during his time as Conan) 

“I can’t believe this Hakuba” the teen whined to his captor as the duo got close to where Shinichi was standing, “What lies have you been feeding to Kudo? It’s bad enough you go around accusing me of being KID without proof, now you’re poisoning the minds of people I haven’t even met!”

Hakuba smirked, “Kudo-san doesn’t know anything about you. All he knows is that I have a highly probable suspect and proof to back it up- “ 

“You have neither!” the teen cut in exasperated. Then turning to him, “And you, why are you accusing me?”

Shinichi’s eyes widened a bit at being addressed suddenly, “I…um..” He realized he had no concrete proof and had just blurted it out based completely on the similarities in appearance. Shinichi cleared his throat, “You and KID….have quite similar physical attributes so-“

The teen smirked as he countered, “So do you detective”

Both the detectives startled at that and Hakuba’s eyes flicked to give Shinichi a momentary once over before shaking his head and glaring at the teen, “Except Kudo-san is a detective, while you on the other hand Kuroba, are a magician”

Shinichi paused as he took in the new information, the teen was a magician?…..yep….chances that this was KID just went up. Kuroba was it? Why did the name sound familiar……Shinichi frowned when he couldn’t quite place it, “Hmm…Kuroba….?”

The teen blinked as though realizing something, “I never introduced myself!”

Then with a smile he made a slight bow as the hand that wasn’t cuffed to Hakuba’s extended towards him, “Kuroba Kaito, magician extrodinaire~” the teen proclaimed as a poof of baby blue smoke covered his extended hand and a blue rose seemed to have appeared from nowhere.

Again, seemed like something KID would do….if Kuroba was KID (a fact which was getting more and more obvious to him) it was a surprise no one other than Hakuba had suspected him yet. Shinichi glanced at the blue rose held out to him before accepting with an amused quirk of his lips, “Kudo Shinichi, detective. Nice to meet you, Kuroba-san”

“Hakuba, could you please un-cuff me?” Kuroba asked the detective who automatically refused, “Not until the heist ends _KID_ ”

Shinichi watched amused as Kuroba snapped back at Hakuba in an irritated tone. Clearly, this was something that had been going on for a while if the usually subtle detective was resorting to cuffing his main suspect to himself in an attempt to obtain proof. Desperate and crude…but a pretty foolproof way to make his point. It was still a gamble….if Hakuba was wrong he was going to be humiliated, but somehow Shinichi felt as though Hakuba’s suspicions were right. And no matter how good KID was, he couldn’t pull of a heist while being under the surveillance of two highly skilled detectives and being handcuffed to one of said detectives.

He managed to placate the two fighting teens with a “We’ll know in a few seconds”. Hakuba looked smug while Kuroba looked fairly unconcerned. Before Shinichi could get a better read of Kuroba’s expression, the lights flickered off and instantly the KID Task Force and Inspector Nakamori were on their guard. Hakuba tightened his hold on the cuffs and Kuroba simply yawned to get his disinterest and relaxed stance across in the now darkened room. Smoke poured out from near the display and started enveloping the entire room.

“Something’s wrong” Shinichi whispered only loud enough for the nearby duo to hear.

“What do you mean, Kudo-san?” Hakuba asked curiously all the while not taking his gaze off Kuroba.

Shinichi’s mind was too busy flitting through all the numerous possibilities when a spotlight fell on a balcony above and illuminated a figure clad in white. It clicked instantly.

“Fake” Shinichi stated causing Hakuba to stop his sputtering and Kuroba to blink curiously at him. Before either of them could respond, Shinichi had already shot off towards the stairs that led to the second floor gallery. Shinichi didn’t bother waiting for Hakuba, who seemed to be running after him…and by extension dragging Kuroba with him who was complaining something about Hakuba being a stubborn mule while Hakuba tried to sush him. 

Ignoring them he went after the crude impostor who was….in all honesty….pissing him off. It was downright embarrassing and he wouldn’t even try to stop KID if he decided to show up and mete out the special treatment that befell the fools who thought they could get away with sullying the thief’s name .

________________________________________________________________________________

“Seriously?! Did you even try?! This is the worst impersonation I’ve ever seen… no one, absolutely no one would have believed you to be KID!”

The blond detective in front of him stuttered to a stop around the final corner when he heard Kudo’s voice and even Kaito was surprised at how quick the other detective had figured it out. He didn’t think anyone other than his dear Tantei-kun had that sort of familiarity with him. 

In fact, the only reason Kaito had given Kudo Shinichi a chance at his heists (read: not duck taped him to the wall with rest of the Task Force) was because his Tantei-kun had hinted that his older cousin would be more of a challenge before wishing him goodbye. Sad as he had been to part from his favourite critic, he was delighted to find out that Kudo Shinichi was every bit as challenging as Tantei-kun had promised. Within a single heist he’d already managed to join Conan as one of his favourite critics (he could never _replace_ Conan, challenging as Kudo was......Kaito had a soft spot for the younger boy)

“What do you mean Kudo?” The imposter asked in a voice that was so horrible, Kaito wanted to die of embarrassment. This bastard was definitely going to pay for using KID’s name. He was snapped out of his plans to humiliate the impostor when he heard Kudo snort derisively, “There’s another embarrassingly obvious mistake, _KID_ . If you had done your research you’d know that KID never addresses me by name…..just ‘Meitantei’”

The impostor seemed to hesitate, “A…another mistake?” 

Kaito heard Hakuba grumble something about his handcuffs and chose to ignore it as he strained to hear the conversation better.

He could feel Kudo rolling his eyes in exasperation from around a corner, “Except for the white of the suit, everything’s wrong! The hat’s too high and wide, the blue of the band is too bright just like the shirt, the cape too short, the tie too bright… and there’s not a black dot inside the triangle charm of the monocle: It’s a clover! “

Kaito and Hakuba’s jaws hit the floor at that. Hakuba was praising the detective’s eye for details while Kaito quickly found his phone to record this…..Oh boy was he going to tease Kudo at his next heist. He was chuckling silently and about to stop the recording as the impostor stuttered when he realized Kudo wasn’t stopping at that.

“Plus since when does KID have such short blond hair?! Or brown eyes? He’s got brown hair and beautiful indigo eyes, not a boring muddy brown! And he’s a young man, barely out of his teens, not in his forties!”

Hakuba made a strangled sort of noise at “beautiful indigo eyes” and Kaito blushed a bit and let his phone continue recording. He heard footsteps and Kaito assumed Shinichi had stepped closer towards the impostor as he continued talking,

“Even your build is completely different! He’s thinner and his muscles… you wouldn’t be able to do half of his gymnastics that he constantly pulls on during his heists!”

Kaito gawked and even Hakuba had his brows scrunched in confusion........was that a compliment? Did Kudo Shinichi just compliment Kaitou KID? Kudo didn’t even show any signs of stopping or slowing his deduction/rant….

“And he’s about my height, so you’re obviously too small! He’s also a magician, so he’s got long thin fingers, not such bulky ones, or he wouldn’t be able to do any of his sleight of hand. And that grimace doesn’t resemble his KID smirk in the slightest! Your voice and speech is completely different too!”

The impostor let out another noise which sounded like a dying animal and Kaito couldn’t help but snicker mentally at that. Looks like Kudo was doing a pretty good job on the ‘utter humiliation’ part. He made a mental note to thank the detective next time, but only after embarrassing him with the recording.

A tug at his wrist made him turn towards Hakuba, who silently nodded towards downstairs. Kaito got the message and shutting his phone, he silently followed Hakuba to get the rest of the Task Force, who were probably torn between going looking for KID and protecting the jewel. Nakamori-keibu was going to be pissed. He hated regular burglars, he _really_ hated KID but what he despised the most was incompetents who tried impersonating KID and wasted his time. Usually Kaito loved to go after the impersonators, but this time it seemed as though between Kudo and Nakamori-keibu, the wretched soul will be sufficiently traumatized.

Nakamori-keibu was predictably enraged at the news and paled when he heard a few gunshots go off. He almost trampled over the handcuffed duo as they hastily lead the way upstairs. Rest of the Task Force stayed back just in case. 

When they were turned about the corner, they were greeted by the sight of the incompetent bastard pointing a gun at Kudo with a trembling hand while Kudo looked bored as he toed at the stray bullet that had buried itself in the floor a few inches away from where he was standing. Judging by his tone, he was _still_ picking out inconsistencies….. _even after being shot at_

“You’re a terrible shot…do you have any idea how good KID’s aim is? There’s also his ‘no-one-gets-hurt’-rule! Did you forget that one? He’s got a _card gun_ , not an actual gun with bullets!”

Kaito was starting to question Kudo’s sanity at this point. _Detectives_ he thought as Kudo continued his rant and even Hakuba and Nakamori-keibu also watched on, too stunned to say or do anything intelligent.

“I can’t believe it… it’s embarrassing just looking at you. I’ve seen kids with better KID costumes on Halloween than yours! And he’s not… he’s not…seriously, I wouldn’t believe it if you weren’t in front of me now…..He-“

“ENOUGH!” The impostor shouted when he finally seemed to have found his voice. He looked like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown as his eyes frantically searched for a way to escape. The “boring muddy brown” eyes landed on the trio who were watching the events unfold and the impostor dropped his gun and rushed towards Nakamori-keibu.

Nakamori-keibu cursed as he took a defensive stance while Kudo rushed to block the exit as Hakuba’s attempt to do so had ended up with him and Kaito in a tug of war.  
Except….instead of lashing out, the impostor went down on his knees before the Inspector of the KID Task Force and burst into tears. Nakamori-keibu stared at the pitiful man as he cried, “Please arrest me! Please get me away from that boy!! Anything, I’ll do anything! I’ll confess everything! Just get me away from him!!”

Hakuba and Nakamori-keibu glanced at Kudo warily and Kaito just grinned as Nakamori-keibu brought out his cuffs and arrested the impostor and called instructions into his radio. Kudo simply blinked at the weird looks he was getting, “What?”

Before Hakuba could come up with a response, Kaito laughed, “Kudo you just drove a guy to the verge of a mental breakdown by fangirling over KID”

Kudo made a strange noise at that, “I did not! That wasn’t….. _fangirling_ I simply stated facts as they were!”

Hakuba chimed in Kudo’s defence, “He’s right Kuroba, collecting maximum data from the surroundings in minimum time is one of the requisites of being a detective”

Kaito grinned, “So it is ‘just a fact’ that KID has ‘beautiful indigo eyes’?”

Kudo blushed a very lovely shade of red that reminded him of an enraged Conan without his glasses and damn people weren’t joking when they said Conan resembled his older cousin. Except Kudo was somehow even more adorable…..

….

Did he just mentally refer to the Heisei Holmes as adorable?

Kaito groaned internally as he tuned out Kudo’s sputtered excuse about a phone call; enjoying a good challenge a detective posed and flirting to throw him off balance was one thing……developing a crush on him was a completely different story. Especially when said detective pinned him for KID at a mere glance (granted he had no proof but still….)

One look at Hakuba made it clear that he was still his prime suspect…..after all fake heists didn’t count. In fact, as Hakuba stated to Kudo as he returned from his phone call, Kaito was even more suspicious since the real KID hadn’t appeared to clear his name.

Kaito huffed, “Really Hakuba, after realizing that Kudo knew this one was a fake, KID probably decided the impostor was in capable hands……although I don’t think he stayed back long enough to hear Kudo’s fangirl rant”

Kudo protested, “It wasn’t a ….” He suddenly paled, “Did KID hear all of that?”

Hakuba gave Kaito a very pointed look, “He most probably did”

“Oh for Gods’ sake, I’m not KID” he exclaimed, “Besides if KID was still here, he’d probably be rubbing the whole ‘beautiful indigo eyes’ thing in Kudo’s face…..in front of the entire Task Force….as loudly as possible. I guess since he doesn’t know, he’ll probably just thank Kudo for handling the situation at the next heist. Now can you please un-cuff me?”

Hakuba sighed but complied with Kaito’s request. “If you insist you’re not KID, then you shouldn’t have any hesitation spending the next heist hand cuffed to me as well” Hakuba challenged.

Kaito panicked a bit but didn’t let it show as he made a gagging face at Hakuba, “Spending one evening in your company was torturous enough so no thank you”

“Then would you prefer my company Kuroba-san?” Kudo asked nonchalantly…..as though he just hadn’t offered to spend a whole evening handcuffed to a person he barely knew……..whether to convict him or prove him innocent Kaito didn’t know.

Scratch that, Kaito thought as he saw the ‘I’ve-got-you’ glint in the Heisei Holmes’ eyes. He was definitely trying to convict Kaito.

Kaito smiled easily and took a brief second to relish the slight waver in Kudo’s confidence before replying, “Oh absolutely. “  
Then with a wink he added, “It’s a date~” just see Kudo turn another shade of red ( _so cute!_ ) before skipping out of the museum.


	2. Chapter 2

Shinichi sniffed indignantly as he filled out his share of paper work after the heist. While he understood that Nakamori-keibu had a lot more paperwork than him being an Inspector and all and that he really shouldn’t be complaining to fill out a few forms…….said forms were identical at many points, causing him to have to write a lot of stuff twice and it was annoying. First Division had started printing hybrid forms for consultants ever since Yusaku’s time and by now they had special forms for Shinichi and Conan. Heck, even the standard forms for the usual officers had a checkbox labeled ‘Kudo/Conan was present at scene’

Shinichi let out another long suffering sigh as he struck out ‘Edo-‘ from the blank for the name section to write ‘Kudo Shinichi’ (old habits die hard). He understood Nakamori-keibu’s hatred for impostors firsthand now. Tonight’s perp was actually a worker in the private company which owned the statues. Typical insurance fraud case. And a huge waste of Division Two’s time and resources. 

When he was finally done with his work, he wished the other officers goodnight and decided to catch the train home. It was only when he stepped outside that he realized he didn’t know the way to the station nor did he have any idea as to how far away was it from here.   
He was debating hailing a cab when a familiar voice called out, “Hey there Kudo!”

“Kuroba-san” Shinichi acknowledged as he saw the magician walk towards him while shuffling a deck of cards expertly. His (blue?purple?) eyes seemed to forever twinkle with mischief and challenge and his lips were curled into a trickster’s grin. Shinichi automatically found himself thinking of KID then shook himself for jumping to conclusions. It was a probable scenario, that’s all. He couldn’t hold it above other scenarios without having solid proof to support it. The most likely scenario at this point was that the magician was simply a prankster, if Hakuba’s complaints where to be believed (a classroom full of glittering pink haired students was a bit hard to believe, even when vouched for and certified by a no nonsense detective)

“You live in Beika right?” Kuroba asked, and on Shinichi’s affirming nod he continued, “Train would be the fastest way to get back….the station’s a five minute walk from here…..I could show you the way”

Shinichi took up Kuroba’s offer; he got himself a guide and an opportunity to examine the magician who may or may not be Kaitou KID. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

He thought he would have to deal with awkward silences or worse, broken attempts at a conversation but to his pleasant surprise he actually enjoyed talking with the magician. Kuroba was pretty well read for an average high schooler and could easily keep up with Shinichi in conversation: whether it was dissecting the little tricks Kuroba performed while they walked or debating the pros and cons of the newly designed fighter jets or arguing about the correct lyrics of the latest Two-Mix song. Before he knew it, they had already reached the station. 

“Here we are~” Kuroba smiled as he made the deck of cards in his hands disappear.

“Sleeves” Shinichi deadpanned. Kuroba simply grinned and held out his hands, inviting the detective to check. 

“Don’t mind if I do” Shinichi muttered as he tried to search for the deck of cards. What he found instead was a few colourful scarves, a squeaky rubber duck, a red rose and….

Shinichi squawked in surprise as a live dove fluttered out and settled on his head. Kuroba laughed as he gathered the other items and slipped them back into his sleeves. It was an infectious laugh and soon Shinichi found himself laughing with the magician. 

He found himself absently gazing at the magician as he carefully retrieved his dove and pet it before letting it perch on his shoulder. Something about the whole scene was so adorable Shinichi could feel himself melt a bit. Kuroba may be a bit mischievous but he was a caring soul who knew his boundaries…..although he seemed to constantly test and tease said boundaries, he knew exactly how much was too much and was careful about it, no matter how carefree his outward appearance seemed.

“So…um, thank you Kuroba-san”, Shinichi said, drawing the magician’s attention from his dove.

“Ah don’t mention it Kudo,” Kuroba said grinning, then drawing out his phone, “How about we exchange numbers? I’d love to keep in touch and we haven’t even settled the lyrics argument yet…I’d hate to leave that one hanging”

Shinichi didn’t pay much attention to the slight skip in his heartbeat as he reached for his phone as well, “Oh absolutely, especially when I know I’m right”

Kuroba just stuck his tongue out at him before punching in a new contact as he added Shinichi’s number before giving the detective his own. Then Shinichi had to run to catch the last train for Beika so he couldn’t even wish the magician goodbye properly.

He had just managed to find himself a seat and settle down when his phone buzzed. Shinichi sighed, he’d already messaged Ran that he’d be late. Ever since he’s returned, the girl had been mother henning him nonstop. However, he pulled out his phone to reply anyways because he’d rather not face the consequences (read: Ran’s kicks). He was pleasantly surprised when he realized that the message was not from Ran (oh right….she did say she had a date with someone from her karate club) but from Kuroba.

 

_Goodnight Kudo~_   
_:)_

 

This time, Shinichi didn’t miss the way his heart fluttered as he typed a quick reply ("Goodnight Kuroba-san"). He blinked as he hit send and the realization washed over him. 

He was developing a crush on Kuroba Kaito

Who was Hakuba’s prime suspect as Kaitou KID’s true identity.

Whom he’d barely known for a day….

This made no sense…although, despite their formal way of addressing each other, he felt it quite easy to banter with the magician…..as though they’d known each other for years. But that was just a statement to their comparable intellect! That didn’t mean he was actually starting to develop feelings for someone he’d just met!!

Oh no, this wasn’t happening. Shinichi tried telling himself as he got down at Beika and hailed a cab.

Remember how jumping to conclusions is bad? It’s probably something else….maybe I just enjoy talking to him, he told himself as he stared out of the cab window, trying to distract himself by deducing things from his surroundings.

His thoughts were still somewhat of a jumbled mess when he reached home and went about getting ready for bed in autopilot mode. 

Then he spent fifteen minutes debating which flower vase was suitable for preserving the blue rose he’d received from Kuroba earlier and froze as he placed the rose in the selected vase on his bedside table.

He then groaned and decided to deal with this new problem tomorrow as he faceplanted into his pillow. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Chatting with Kudo was fun. Their conversations varied greatly and he never found himself getting bored as everything from arguments to equations and codes and puzzles were exchanged between them. He thought Kudo would just be an arrogant and cold bastard like Hakuba but the truth couldn’t be farther; Kudo was an amazing person and oh god how was he supposed to get over his stupid crush on the detective if Kudo kept being all perfect and cute like this??

What was annoying was that Kudo was about just as persistant as Hakuba on the ‘Kuroba Kaito is Kaitou KID’ theory. At least he was _much_ more subtle about it than the blond detective but that also meant Kaito had to be constantly on his toes to make sure he let nothing slip during their conversations. 

Somewhere after a week of texting ‘Kudo’ had become ‘Shinichi’ but Shinichi still stubbornly addressed him as Kuroba….well at least he’d gotten Shinichi to drop honorifics, he thought as he examined the museum exhibit they were standing in currently, a large gemstone displayed at the central display.

Kaito was enjoying watching Hakuba squirm as he tried to look for any signs of nervousness in Kaito’s face while Shinichi secured him to his own hand with a pair of sturdy handcuffs.

The whole two weeks after the impostor incident had done nothing to make the two detectives forget about their plan to cuff him. And KID had sent out a new notice just two days after that incident….targeting Morning Dew, a large diamond set in a rather ostentatious gold ring.

Naturally the crowd gathered outside the museum probably didn’t give a damn to the jewel or its past as a crown jewel of an ancient civilization. Nope, they were all here to see the amazing Kaitou KID make an appearance to steal the jewel.

Kaito smirked internally, if this went well, not only did he get to thwart Hakuba, he could also end up getting Kudo Shinichi as his airtight alibi. This was going to be fun.  
Hakuba looked warily at him before checking his watch again. Nakamori-keibu had given up on lecturing the teens and was barking final orders into the radio. He could feel Shinichi ’s scrutinizing gaze on him.

One minute to go.

Suddenly, Shinichi’s hand reached out to grasp his and interlock the already handcuffed hands. “Wha-“

“Well you are a magician…..you could probably escape these cuffs, especially since you have your other hand free” Shinichi reasoned, although he had a slight pink blush that was ruining the ‘cold reasoning’ tone he was trying to use, “But if I hold on with my own hand as well…..escape should be impossible”

30 seconds to go.

Kaito grinned, “Aww sweety if you wanted to hold hands, you could have just said so!”

Shinichi spluttered in protest at the nickname. He really was too cute for his own good. “But Shinichi,” Kaito continued to teased, “ you already asked me out to a KID heist and it’s only natural for a couple to hold hands on a date and call each other nicknames~”

“IT’S NOT-“

10 seconds to go

Nakamori-keibu yelled at them to shut up and both teens obeyed, not wanting to anger the already high strung Inspector. Shinichi’s hold on his hand tightened and both the detectives looked smug as Hakuba took up the countdown:

“Seven…..”

The Task Force members tensed, alert and ready to catch the elusive thief. The ones near the display case subconsciously inched closer to the case.

“Six…”

Hakuba looked over to gauge Kaito’s reaction with a smug smile.

“Five….”

He startled when Kaito returned an innocent smile and even Shinichi was starting to look a bit unnerved

“Four….”

“KID?” Shinichi whispered to him and Kaito shot him his best ‘are-you-serious?’ look, “Shiiiinichi! I’m not-“

“Three!”

Everyone startled. That was KID’s voice echoing around the room causing everyone to look around to find the source. 

“Two!”

The cheery voice went on and Kaito took his sweet time to enjoy the twin looks of horror and confusion Hakuba and Shinichi’s faces.

“One~”

There was an explosion of KID’s trademark pink smoke on top of the display case and when in cleared, Kaitou KID stood atop the display case grinning his razor sharp smile as he took a theatrical bow and greeted the room and the television cameras:

“Ladies and Gentlemen~ It’s Showtime!”


	3. Chapter 3

Shinichi stared at KID standing on top of the display case, then looked to his side and stared at Kuroba, who was still very much handcuffed to him and holding hands with him. Hakuba looked like his brain had shut down. Shinichi didn’t blame him…..

There was a collective choking noise from the Task Force when KID displayed that he had already filched the diamond from its case. They all made to pile on him as usual. And as usual KID gracefully stepped out of the way and activated the cage trap that Nakamori-keibu had set around the display to catch him.

The only ones left standing other than himself were a frozen Hakuba (Shinichi was starting to get annoyed now) and Kuroba who was chained to him.

KID chuckled as he caught Shinichi’s eye, “What’s the matter Meitantei? You look like you’ve seen a ghost”

Shinichi gulped. This couldn’t be an impostor. It wasn’t even KID’s assistant; Shinichi knew from the Bell Tree Express Mess that KID’s assistant couldn’t mimic voices as well as KID. The tone, pitch of the voice, mannerisms and gait were a perfect match to KID. Shinichi could think of only two possibilities. Either this really was KID and as KID-like as Kuroba was, it was just a coincidence or……Vermouth had decided to step in and help KID for some reason. Which wasn’t possible, because Vermouth was currently locked in a high security prison in the middle of nowhere along with rest of the Black Organisation.

He just realized how awkward the handcuffing thing must have seemed to Kuroba. He owed the magician an apology-

KID tutted as he walked to stand in front of him, “Really Meitantei, I’m disappointed in you. Handcuffing your suspect to yourself? I expected this sort of behaviour from Tantei-han and Tantei-san here”- KID paused to snap his fingers in front of a frozen Hakuba who still seemed to be trying to process KID and Kuroba next to each other- “but not you. Or……is this some sort of elaborate ploy to flirt with your doppleganger? I must say I never pinned you for the narcissistic type.” 

Shinichi tried to pull away from Kuroba like he had been electrocuted and blushed pink as all he achieved was rattling the chains noisily, “What even -“

KID then pulled out a small axe from the depths of his suit and both Kuroba and Shinichi panicked at that, “Let’s solve that little problem shall we? Handcuffs are so tasteless”

“KID WHAT-“

“OHMYGOD SPARE ME I’M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!”

KID paused and glanced at the axe, “Hmm…too much?”

Shinichi gripped Kuroba’s hand in an effort to calm down the other teen, “YOU THINK?!”

KID simply put it away (Shinichi swore for all its garish whiteness, that suit was a bloody black hole) and gestured at the handcuffs lazily: there was a poof of pink smoke and the handcuffs dropped to the floor; unlocked.

Shinichi immediately made sure he still had the keys to the cuffs….and it was right as he left them, in his jacket pocket. He gaped at KID, “How-?”

KID ignored Shinichi and continued in that 'my pace' manner of his, “By the way, I’d like to thank you for handling the impostor from last time.” KID grinned that manic grin which usually meant Task Force members in tutus, “ I heard he was rather distressed and begging to be arrested by the time you were done with him. Scary~ Whatever did you do to him Meitantei?” 

Shinichi was about to answer when he remembered Kuroba’s fangirling comment and shut his mouth with an audible click.

KID raised a curious eyebrow, ignoring the screams of the Task Force members trapped in their own cage, “What was that Meitantei? I’m afraid I didn’t quite hear you”

The grin that Kuroba sported was way too much like KID’s for Shinichi’s comfort as Kuroba began to respond, “Oh nothing much, he just-“

Kuroba was interrupted by Nakamori-keibu and rest of the Task Force getting out of the cage thanks to the back-up stationed at the control room.

KID sighed, “As much as I’d like to stay and chat, it appears I shall have to take my leave now” he turned to Kuroba and winked, “You owe me a story Kaito~” 

Before Shinichi could react, KID dropped a flash grenade and by the time Shinichi and the rest of the Task Force members could see again, there was already the sound of a window shattering and a white hang glider flying off in the distance.

“After him!!!” Nakamori-keibu yelled and rest of the task force followed him out. Shinichi sighed…..these people never learnt. He shook Hakuba out of his frozen shock….or tried to at least. Hakuba still stammered but he seemed to have mostly gotten a grasp of himself. Now to chase after KID. 

“Kuroba let’s-“ Shinichi paused, Kuroba was nowhere to be seen……did he chase after the thief on his own?

Shinichi cursed and headed for the roof, KID’s favourite escape route.

Wait a minute.

KID had referred to Kuroba by name. His _first name_

When not in disguise, KID _never_ referred to people by their name and if he did, their title always followed. The inspector was always ‘Nakamori-keibu’ or ‘keibu-dono’ and even in case of the nut case rich people who were after him and/or were his fans he followed that pattern. While chatting with Conan, he may refer to Suzuki as ‘old-man’ but in front of everyone, it was always “Chief Advisor Suzuki” or “Suzuki-shi” and he doubted the thief had addressed Sonoko by name either. From what little truth he had pieced together from Sonoko’s crazy version of KID’s visit to her room, he had stuck to “ojou-san”.

He was so distracted, he almost set off a trip wire. Fortunately, he dodged it at the very last moment. Unfortunately, Hakuba (who had been following right behind him) had no chance as he tripped it and got doused in fake blood (interspersed with some….solid….things…..which looked disturbingly like body parts) and a mist of sleeping gas. Covering his mouth and nose while muttering an apology to his fellow detective, Shinichi stepped aside and continued to head for the rooftop, this time more mindful of traps…..KID seemed to have horror based traps this time. Someone needs to monitor that thief’s television intake, he thought wryly as he reached the rooftop door.

He heard Kaito’s muffled delighted voice exclaim something….he only caught “…favourite “ and “thanks…” and then some crinkling wrapper noise.

He was about to throw the door open and deal with KID when he heard the thief’s voice, which had a chilling tone, “So….what are Kudo Shinichi’s intentions towards you Kaito?”

The crinkling paused. 

Shinichi paused. There was no way he was walking into the rooftop with KID sounding like he would consider abandoning his ‘no-one-gets-hurt-policy’ if Kaito gave an unsatisfactory answer. What was with KID’s protectiveness over Kaito? And what the hell was Kaito doing? Was he trying to stall for time? But that question sounded as though it’s KID who’s staying back to chat with the other teen…

The crinkling sound of the wrapper continued and then there was the familiar snap of a chocolate bar being bitten into. 

“he mwas djust-” Kaito began only to be cut off by KID’s voice tutting, “Don’t talk with your mouth full” 

There was a pause and then Kaito spoke again, clear this time, “Jeez, he was just trying to prove that I’m KID,” Kaito sounded slightly embarrassed, “You don’t have to baby me so much, I can take care of myself _Mom_ ”

KID and Kaito chuckled at that. Some sort of inside joke, Shinichi guessed. Now why on earth were KID and Kaito close enough to have inside jokes?

It seemed as though the conversation was over. Shinichi decided now would be the time to step in and retrieve that stupid diamond. He threw open the rooftop door to scold Kaito for scaring him by disappearing like that and then give KID a piece of his mind about tonight’s heist (fake blood? Really KID? _Really?_ )

“Kaito! Why did-“ 

Then his brain ground to a halt the second time in an hour as he noted the situation in front of him. KID and Kaito were standing right by each other at the railing ……..not facing off as Shinichi had assumed. KID had an arm splayed across Kaito’s upper back to pull him closer and the other hand was gently cupping Kaito’s cheek, the gloved thumb brushing across a spot near the teen’s lips. Kaito had a pouty expression which read ‘Don’t baby me’ while KID’s expression seemed much softer and gentler than the indifferent mask he usually wore during a heist.

Both the faces snapped in his direction when he burst in however. Those brief and intimate expressions shattered as Kaito looked just plain shocked and KID quickly backed off, mask snapping back in place. He stepped onto the edge of the railing and held the ring to the moonlight. Nothing happened. KID sighed.

“Looks like I shall have to bid farewell for tonight”, KID said and turned around, stepping back down. Shinichi tried to ready himself to catch the gem KID would no doubt toss in his direction. If only he wasn’t frozen in shock. It had become a sort of tradition from his time as Conan: if Conan caught up to him while KID was checking the gem, KID would usually declare it wasn’t what he was looking for and toss it back to him with a grin and make some small talk before he attempted (and failed) to knock out KID, who would just laugh as he disappeared into the night sky.

However, KID only paused to give him a rather judging look and then, as though making up his mind about something, he walked up to Kaito, took the hand which wasn’t holding the bitten into chocolate bar (an expensive French brand, some still functioning part of Shinichi’s brain noted) and slipped the ring into the magician’s finger. KID leaned in to mutter something into Kaito’s ear which had the usually composed magician blushing a bright crimson. KID just winked before jumping up to the railing again and diving off the edge, only to rise up as his hang glider snapped open, carrying him to safety.

“Shinichi? Shinichi?!” Kaito was saying something about returning the gem but it didn’t quite register in Shinichi’s brain. 

He stuttered out something about going to call the Task Force and quickly left the roof top, leaving behind a very puzzled Kaito.

Kuroba Kaito was in a relationship with Kaitou KID.

Shinichi tried to push down the ugly feeling that welled in his stomach. What was it....Disgust? No….Anger? Closer but not quite…

Jealousy?

Shinichi paused dialling Nakamori-keibu’s number. That…..sounded right……he was....jealous…..of KID…..

Shinichi groaned. 

“Kudo-kun?! What’s the matter?!” Nakamori-keibu’s voice yelled from the speaker, “Did you catch the damn thief?!”

Shinichi winced at the volume, then explained that no, KID had managed to get away again and yes, they’d managed to retrieve the gem, Kaito would return it; yes he’ll drop by the station and get his share of paper work done by tomorrow.

After hanging up he looked around the messy display hall and wondered what to do next. He _really_ didn’t want to talk with Kaito right now. He decided to text the other boy instead.

_Kaito could you please deliver the gem to Nakamori-keibu?_

_Shinichi!! What happened?! Are you alright?! \\(OoO)/_

Then within a second:

_Shinichi called me Kaito!! Yay~_

Shinichi startled when he realized that yes, for the past half an hour, he’d been referring to the magician mentally and otherwise by his first name. He typed out a panicked reply.

_I’m fine…just a bit tired. Sorry Kuroba, I didn’t mean…it just sort of slipped my mind_

He received a text within two seconds. 

_NO! It’s Kaito!_

And before he could type anything, 

_If you call me Kuroba again…I…I will steal your coffee!”_

Shinichi chuckled at that and just as he was typing out his reply, another text:

_Wanna go check out this new ice-cream parlor that opened near Beika? It’s near the theatre…so we could catch that new mystery movie as well~_

Shinichi was typing a new reply (“Sure, why not. Although you’re-“) when he paused. It was almost like a date. Except it wasn’t, his brain reminded him, Kaito’s dating KID, remember?  
Shinichi felt his mood sour at that. He edited his reply before hitting send.

_Sorry, I’ve got to run a few errands tomorrow._

He winced at his own pathetic excuse. How original…..Kaito probably saw through that one in no time. Kaito’s reply came a bit slow, as though he was chosing his words carefully:

_Then you go home and rest, Shinichi. I’ll hand over the ring to keibu_

Shinichi sighed. Great, now he was going to make Kaito think he was trying to avoid him. When his brain pointed out that is exactly what he was doing, he told it to shut up as he typed out a quick reply:

_Very well Kaito_

_Goodnight_

Shinichi was about to snap his phone shut when he got another message:

_Goodnight Shinichi~ :D_

Shinichi sighed as he set out for the train station. He could deal with the paper work tomorrow. Right now, he needed a good rest and maybe a tub of chocolate ice-cream before that.

Shinichi winced at that thought because he instantly found himself thinking of the way Kaito’s voice would light up at the mention of chocolate ice-cream. Goddamit, he was not the female lead of some crappy teen chick flick.

Resisting the urge to bang his head on a nearby wall, he headed home hoping he wouldn’t trip over a dead body or something. He had had a bad enough day as it is.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Oh no” Shinichi thought when he stepped back into his home and noticed the two extra pairs of shoes. Oh god, please not now. He’d rather solve another murder than deal with this right now. 

“SHIN-CHAN~ WE’RE HOME!!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> XD  
> Poor Shinichi and his misconceptions....although I'm guessing it's obvious who the mystery KID is by now, right?  
> Those who _still_ don't get it....next chapter is in Kaito's POV, so that will clear it up....


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I know I promised Kaito POV...but there's Shinichi POV too....

Shinichi hadn’t got a wink of sleep. His parents had thankfully refrained from bothering him too much when he told them he was tired and needed his sleep, but they hadn’t let him leave for his room until they managed to weasel out a promise to visit the home of some old family friends. Not really bothering to wait around and listen to names, he just waved them off and headed for his room in a slight daze. 

Pulling on his pajamas, he flopped down on his bed and pulled out his phone to distract himself. Realizing the seriousness of the nature of his feelings for his friend at the same time he found out said friend was dating _Kaitou KID_ hadn’t been the best experience. Why KID? Of all the seven billion people on this planet, why did Kaito have to date KID? What did he see in KID anyways? Sure KID was a magician and smart and…..

Shinichi paused. Then recalled Kaito’s comment on fangirling over KID. Did he…

_NO._

He was not ready to deal with that train of thought. But now that it had occurred he needed a resolution to it. And sadly, his father would probably be the only one who could give him an unbiased opinion. Shinichi winced, his dad would see through the “I have a friend who…” ploy in no time. 

He’d spent rest of the night tossing restlessly as he tried to push out any thoughts of Kaito or KID from his brain.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Kuroba Chikage had outdone herself as usual. Kaito thanked his mom and promised to get her all the homemade mochi she wanted from the anmitsu store Keiko-chan’s family friends owned. As they laughed and chatted about the heist over hot chocolate and catching up on how they were doing, Kaito felt really content. It had been a long time since his mother had laughed so openly and enjoyed herself at a heist.

Then he managed to let slip something about Shinichi and waited for the relentless teasing to begin (“Oh my baby boy’s growing up!” or “When’s the wedding?” or “Oh I’m going to have grandchildren!”) ; except it never came. What happened was much, much scarier: 

His mother smiled.

She smiled like he’d just mentioned something ordinary and mundane like the weather and not just handed her enough ammunition to tease him for the rest of his life. Oh god, that usually meant she’d already done something. But before Kaito could pry answers from her, she’d said something about guests dropping by the next day and shooed him off to bed.

Kaito woke up feeling still disoriented and tired because of yesterday’s heist. Thankfully, today was one of those rare Sundays where he had nothing to do: no schoolwork or heist planning. And to top it off, his heist last night had been a great success. His phone buzzed and he pounced for it, hoping to find the solution of the number code he’d sent Shinichi before the heist.

Instead, all he found was some spam. Disappointed, he put it away and got out of his bed. He’d better get ready before his Mom decided to come upstairs and wake him up herself. He shuddered at the thought, God knows what that woman would resort to.

Still half asleep, he stumbled into the living room to look for his mother and let her know he was awake before she decided to pull out something like that axe from last night (he had no idea why she was attached to that one prop, but he figured it had something to do with his dad). Speaking of last night, his mother had been unusually touchy-feely…..being so close to “KID” had left him a bit dazed, even if it was just his mom. She had done a pretty excellent job of playing the role.

Kaito stuttered to a stop when his search for his mom led him to the living room and he found himself looking at a very bored Shinichi fiddling with his phone. A steaming cup of coffee sat at the low table and the television, though switched on, was muted as reports about last night’s heist flashed through. Shinichi payed them no mind as he continued to glare at his phone and write into his notebook furiously. Occasionally, he would pause to take a sip from the coffee mug then continue to scribble in the notebook. 

Huh, he must still be dreaming…. Shinichi looked cute, with his eyebrows scrunched up as he focused intently on his phone. Kaito walked up to Shinichi and pulled at his cheek causing him to jump back with a yelp and stared at him in shock

“Kaito?! What are you doing here?!”

~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**[ 30 minutes earlier…..]**

Shinichi thought he must still be half asleep. He had been dragged by his parents all the way to Ekoda and entered a house which didn’t seem familiar…..what family friends? On asking, his dad told him that it was actually the home of his Mom’s old disguise teacher, some late magician….the name evaded him in his sleep deprived state….she had recently gotten back in touch with her sensei’s wife and wanted to introduce them.

“And how does that make them family friends if you’ve never met them?” Shinichi had grumbled to his father as they waited for the door to open. 

Yuusaku Kudo looked like he didn’t know whether to look amused or annoyed, “Oh, I’ve met them alright….”

That had made Shinichi wonder exactly what sort of people could ruffle his father’s feathers? The house was in a fairly nice neighbourhood , he thought glancing around at the building and the well-tended garden. As he watched two doves play in the stone birdbath, Shinichi realized he’d never bothered to check the nameplate, but he got distracted when the door opened and the smell of coffee wafted out. 

_Coffee first_ his brain decided as he turned to see the door being opened by a woman who looked about the same age as his mother, except she had short and deep maroon hair and golden eyes that sparkled with mischief. She was wearing an apron as though she’d been in the middle of preparing breakfast.

“Chikage-chan!” his mom exclaimed and the lady, Chikage looked equally delighted as she pulled Yukiko into a hug, “Yuki-chan! It’s so nice to meet you! Come on in everyone!”

His mom bounded in and started commenting about how much the house had changed as she slipped on the guest slippers. Chikage-san caught his dad’s eye and smirked, “Long time no see, Kudo-san” 

The smirk reminded Shinichi of KID’s infamous one which had the Task Force make a conscious effort to not run screaming in the opposite direction. Shinichi shook himself mentally, _Why am I thinking about that idiot thief now?_

He turned to see his dad’s reaction. The elder Kudo simply shrugged and returned the grin, “Being on the run from my publishers is tiring….I never really stay long in the same place.”

Chikage-san laughed, “Well I’m looking forward to the next book.” She then turned to Shinichi, “This is your son right? The famous high school detective~”

Shinichi tried for a polite smile, “Kudo Shinichi, nice to meet you Chikage-san”

Chikage chuckled, “The boy looks like a zombie. Kudo, what have you been putting him through?”

His dad smirked, “Oh, there was a KID heist yesterday remember? Shinichi had his main suspect proven innocent….so he’s out of leads on KID’s identity”

Shinichi managed a weak “Tou-san..please…”

Both Chikage and his dad looked like there was something intensely funny about the whole situation but Shinichi was not amused. He huffed as he headed for the living room, “I’ll be working on a puzzle while you guys catch up”

Chikage looked a bit sympathetic at that, “You go and make yourself comfortable Shinichi-kun, I’ll get you a cup of coffee”

Shinichi’s brain cried in relief at the prospect, “Thanks a lot Chikage-san”

He trudged of to the sofa he’d spotted while faintly hearing his mom skipping out of a room which looked like a study and heading to Chikage-san to enquire something about her son. So she had a son, huh? He’s probably around my age….and still sleeping upstairs…lucky fellow…Shinichi absently wondered as he took out his phone and opened the chat with Kaito and scrolled through their messages. He tried to ignore the awkward few messages from last night and his eyes landed on the number code Kaito had sent earlier….if he solved and sent the solution, it would work as a perfect way to keep their conversation flowing naturally.

Chikage handed him a steaming cup of coffee, just the way he liked it, “Here you go Shinichi-kun, I’ll be in the kitchen with your parents if you need me for anything”

Shinichi nodded his thanks as he took a sip, watching her walk away as she hummed a cheerful tune. He then took out his notebook and jotted down the code and started calculating the various possibilities. He ignored the news reports about yesterday’s heist as he continued to work on the puzzle at hand. 

_I wonder what Kaito’s doing now…._ Shinichi thought absently, _Does he know KID’s identity? He probably does…..wonder how that feels…knowing the man behind that monocle….._

Shinichi shook his head, _Focus! Number puzzle…..Hmm….Substitute cipher? Alphabet or kana?....nah, that’s too easy…._

Then suddenly he felt someone pulling his cheek and he jumped with a yelp, turning to the person who’d appeared out of nowhere…..and choked on his own tongue, “Kaito?! What are you doing here?!”

And indeed, a sleepy Kaito stood before him, clad in bunny print pajamas, his hair even more ruffled up than usual. He was rubbing his eyes and mumbling, “Huh, it’s not a dream?”

 _Cute_ Shinichi thought in spite of himself as a dove immediately fluttered in from the general direction of kitchen and settled on Kaito’s head.

He shook his head, “Ba’arou, if you thought you were dreaming, shouldn’t you be pinching yourself?”

Kaito grinned sheepishly, “Heh heh…”

Shinichi rolled his eyes, “What are you doing here anyways?!”

Kaito frowned as he gently shooed the dove from his hair, “That’s my line Shinichi…. What are you doing in my house at….” He yawned and squinted at the clock, “…eight o’ clock on a Sunday morning?”

Shinichi had no idea what was going on, “I…my parents came to visit a family friend…”

Suddenly it hit him….. _Kuroba_ Kaito…..that’s why the name had sounded familiar when he first met the other teen!! Kuroba was the name of the magician his mother trained under! But how…why…

Shinichi groaned and hit his head on the coffee table, _The universe hates me_

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Now showered and dressed, Kaito nervously fiddled with his scrambled eggs as he eyed the ‘guests’ sitting across the table. His dear mother had conveniently forgotten to mention that by _’guests’_ she meant the _whole damn Kudo family_

Yukiko Kudo seemed completely oblivious to the slight tension in the room as she happily chattered away with his mom (after cooing over how cute he was and how much he’d grown). 

Yuusaku Kudo was eyeing the bacon on Yukiko’s plate the same way Kaito eyed a new heist target (his mom had mentioned something about Yukiko putting him on a diet). As comical as he looked now, the man was downright scary. He’d taken one look at him when he’d walked into the kitchen to confront his mom, nodded his approval and smiled as he complimented him on how he’d handled the Blue Wonder heist.

Kaito had gulped and turned to his mother who simply grinned, “Oh Shinichi-kun is amazing at heists! Kaito really loves the challenge and you should see him pout when Shinichi-kun wouldn’t show up”

Kaito had sputtered and turned red causing Yuusaku and his mom to burst out laughing. 

Kaito glanced at the man who was now trying to steal a strip of bacon from Yukiko’s plate. Yukiko didn’t even look away from his mom, listing the amazing design additions on Campbell’s limited edition backpacks while her fork hand plunged towards Yuusaku’s retreating hand with deadly accuracy, causing him to drop the bacon and save his hand. 

Kaito sweatdropped. He turned to glance at Shinichi sitting next to him, expecting to hear some dry comment about his parents’ antics and felt butterflies flutter in his stomach when his gaze met Shinichi’s, causing the other teen to quickly look away and stare at his plate as if it held the answer to whatever was bothering him.  
And something was definitely bothering him. Kaito quelled the butterflies in his stomach ( _He was looking at me!_ ) and rallied his thoughts. He knew that something was bothering the teen by the way Shinichi’s interaction with him had changed…..he had become a bit more hesitant and withdrawn. This wasn’t just embarrassment at being proved wrong or plain old tiredness. 

Could it be that…Shinichi....had a crush on him too?

 _Yeah right,_ Kaito snorted mentally at the very idea, _Stupid wishful thinking_

As they finished with breakfast, Yukiko volunteered to help his mom with the cleanup while Yuusaku asked if he could browse the books in the study and when his mom said she’d no qualms, he had disappeared into said room, leaving Shinichi and Kaito alone. 

Suddenly Yukiko emerged waving a list in her hand as his mom tried to argue about something. 

“Yuki-chan, that’s Kaito’s job…you don’t have to-“

“Nonsense Chikage-chan! It’s been a while since I’ve been to the market and I want to meet everyone else! I might as well get the groceries” and left the house, grabbing the car keys Yuusaku had left at the entrance. Then the house went silent as his mom simply sighed and returned to finish the task of cleaning.

The only sound in the living room was the clock ticking away merrily and an occasional clink of dishes from the kitchen.

Kaito was trying to say something to break the awkward silence when Shinichi beat him to it,” Kaito, we need to talk”

Kaito heard the clinking of plates stop, the study’s door creak open slightly and felt his eyebrow twitch. He was _not_ going to let his mom and Yuusaku Kudo eavesdrop on this conversation.

“How about we go upstairs?”, he asked getting up to lead the way to his room.

Shinichi, judging by his annoyed face had also noticed the two adults trying to eavesdrop, “Yeah, that would be better” he glared at the study door which shut hastily and sighed as he followed Kaito up the stairs, “Sorry about that…”

Kaito laughed nervously, “Parents will be parents….”

He opened the door to his room and drew out his chair for Shinichi while he himself plopped down on his bed. 

Shinichi closed the door behind him and sat on the chair with a nod of thanks, his eyes darting around the room as they quickly catalogued whatever information the surroundings had to offer.

 _Ever the detective_ Kaito thought fondly as Shinichi’s gaze turned to his desk and froze. 

“Shinichi?” Kaito frowned, “What-“

Kaito’s blood ran cold when he saw what was lying on the desk: the charm from KID’s monocle…obviously tugged off forcefully from the way the edges were frayed.   
Kaito was damn sure it hadn’t been there when he woke up. There was no mistaking the authenticity of that smooth unmarked charm; All fan merchandise had numbers and/or company logos carved into the cheap plastic. This was high quality craftsmanship made of black enameled metal with the clover charm set in moonstone. Definitely the real deal. And Shinichi already knew KID's mother was Phantom Lady.

_MOM, I swear to god! What were you thinking?!_

Shinichi went pale then turned an interesting shade of red and sputtered. When he’d composed himself, he took a deep breath and faced Kaito, “Th…this is kind of what I wanted to talk to you about…About you and KID”

“H..huh? A..About KID?” Kaito panicked, he was sure all his hard work yesterday was about to be tossed out of the window, “I d..don’t understand-”

Shinichi glared at him, “Do you take me for a fool?! Don’t deny it!”

“Sh..Shinichi, I don’t know what y..you’re talking about…”

Kaito was sure his soul was about to leave his body and he must have looked as terrified as he felt because Shinichi’s gaze softened and became heartbreakingly sad, “It’s okay….you don’t have to hide….I…I know you’re dating KID”

“Shinichi I’m not-“ Kaito began to defend his identity when his brain ground to screeching halt. He tried replaying the statement and shook his head and let out a slightly hysterical laugh, “I’m sorry could you repeat that? I thought you just said I was dating Kaitou KID”

Shinichi frowned at him, “That’s exactly what I said. And don’t deny it! This charm here is indisputable proof that KID was here last…night…” Shinichi trailed off and blushed again.

Kaito did too, when it hit him what exactly Shinichi was implying and squawked, “I…didn’t! He…wha-“

Shinichi coughed, “It’s alright Kaito….I won’t tell anyone…..”

 _But that’s not the point here!!_ Kaito wailed internally.

Shinichi was on a roll now, “ I understand your feelings…..and I don’t think KID is a bad person….annoying but not…not someone who’d hurt another person. But still! You should be careful! I…does anyone else know?! What about Chikage-san, does she-“

Kaito felt dazed as Shinichi shook him by his shoulders. It was all falling in place now: his mom’s instant agreeing to help, the way she’d been all touchy feely as KID, the way she’d gone _completely off-script_ and forced him to improvise…..

“Kaito?!” Shinichi was starting to sound a bit alarmed. Kaito gathered himself and blinked when he noticed the detective’s arms around his shoulders. Shinichi followed his gaze and drew back his hands with a jolt, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to-“

Kaito brushed off the apology with a wave and replayed the conversation in his head…..another bit jumped out at him, “You won’t tell anyone?! You? A detective?!”

Shinichi blushed as he looked away, “If it’s for your sake….I….I.. mean…I won’t back off at a heist! But outside…..outside, KID is off-limits. That’s how we play the game and I’ll stick to those rules.”

Kaito didn’t know how to react, “Shinichi…”

“A..and I hope you know that doesn’t change anything between us” Shinichi looked at him, his blue eyes swirling with hope and sadness and something else Kaito couldn’t place.

Kaito wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. He settled for laughing, “Of course it doesn’t you idiot! Now let’s go back downstairs before my mom comes up here”

Shinichi nodded and gave him a smile which Kaito instantly saw through as pasted on, but he decided not to comment on it as Shinichi left the room as fast as humanly possible without breaking into a run.

Kaito inhaled as he tried to calm himself down and followed Shinichi downstairs. His mother had a lot to explain.

_The universe really hates me_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the universe Kai-chan...just the author being mean to you... XD  
>  And I assure you that I love you and Shin-chan.  
> *casually pushes both into more convoluted plots*  
> Oops?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super short update...I have started working on a multichapter version of Gentleman Thief and Great Detective... anyways...hope you enjoy~

Kaito paced about his room after the Kudos left. He had turned and yelled at his mom the moment he was sure the Kudos were out of earshot. His mom had apologized to him (after a failed attempt to stop laughing) , “I was going for a jealousy angle! I didn’t know Shinichi-kun would take the ‘if-he’s-happy-I’m-happy’ route!!”

Kaito had given his mom a withering look and satisfied with the guilty look that appeared on her face, he had locked himself in his room and sulked for a while before pacing around.

 _’Well at least now I know my feelings might actually be returned…’_ he thought trying to find some positive outcome from the mess.

He ignored his homework lying around and tried to think of some way to sort this mess. He needed to know Shinichi better before chalking up some grand plan.   
And he couldn’t exactly try talking to the boy himself. Even if they managed to ignore the conversation and talk normally, the detective would instantly figure out something was up if Kaito asked any pointy questions. And his parents were out of the question. Heck, he wasn’t going to trust any of the adults on this one.

Then what? Talk to Ran? Technically he hasn’t even been introduced to Ran yet….and if he tried going as KID, he was sure Ran would kick him into next week after the stunt he pulled in the Lady Sky heist. He didn’t know Sonoko personally and he wished to keep it that way for as long as possible. Hattori didn’t know Kuroba Kaito and wouldn’t even hesitate for a moment to clap handcuffs on KID (not that they would hold him) Then who….

Then it hit him! Someone who would definitely know Shinichi well and would be willing to talk to KID if he chose his words carefully and there was zero chance of running into him in the city or even the country because said person is supposed to be in the USA.

Kaito dove under his bed to look for the KID phone he’d kicked underneath in a hurry.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
Shinichi had a cold case’s files sprawled all over his desk but he couldn’t really bring himself to focus. The journey back home had been saner as his dad had taken the keys. Shinichi had taken one look at the battered oranges among the groceries his mom had brought back and felt sorry for the entire shopping district which had to handle her driving. However, both parents had relentlessly questioned him as to why he was so upset to which he snapped back that he wasn’t and even if he was, it was none of their business. The rest of the ride had gone in silence.

Shinichi had decided he needed a distraction and pulled out a random cold case file from the library and taken it up to his room to study…..except he couldn’t bring himself to concentrate. He gave up trying to read his father’s cramped case notes and lay his head against the pages, his head turned to the side and gaze drawn to the blue rose on his bedside table.

“Kuroba….’Clover’….” Shinichi smiled sadly, “KID was always the luckier one between the two of us……”

 _“What’s with that tacky charm on your monocle? You do realize it could easily get caught on something?” Conan asked, his tiny hands clutching the lapels of KID’s_ _suit tightly as KID glided into a low cloud._

_He had managed to find a lead on the crows but had wandered off too far. His skateboard had run out of power on the way back and since it was night time, solar_ _power wasn’t an option. He had Vodka on his tail and was sure Gin wouldn’t be too far behind. Terrified he’d decided to rely on the Phantom Thief who was bound to_ _be somewhere nearby, preparing for the heist which was in two days._

 _KID had come through and guided him away from the crows by whispering directions over the phone. He had been led to the rooftop of an abandoned departmental_ _store where he had supplied KID with the information relevant to him. Surprised but grateful, KID had gladly agreed to drop his favourite detective home in exchange_ _for the new information regarding the crows._

_Conan felt rather than heard KID’s chuckle as his ribs reverberated with amusement, “Is my Tantei-kun concerned?”_

_Conan glared at him as he clutched the stray charm from where it was floating haphazardly, “In your dreams thief. Your stupid charm keeps hitting my face” which_ _wasn’t really true but KID didn’t comment as Conan turned the charm in his hands, examining the skilled handwork and running a finger over the four leaved clover_ _embedded in moonstone._

_“Clover…..luck?” Conan absently said causing KID to let out another amused chuckle. When Conan looked up, KID was grinning down at him, those indigo eyes_ _sparkling with mischief, taunting him to find the secrets hidden within._

_“Yep….luck” KID said cheerfully, his voice warm with affection, “You could use some of that huh Tantei-kun?”_

_“Shut up KID” Conan mumbled into the suit. This was the first time he’d heard KID’s voice sound so….gentle. KID didn’t say anything as he focused on landing on_ _Mouri Detective Agency’s roof._

_Conan jumped out from KID’s arms and turned to thank the thief for his help. Except…..there was no one else on the rooftop other than Conan. He looked up to see a_ _white glider fly off in the distance. He found a bundle of clover neatly tucked into his blazer’s pocket with a card_

‘Goodnight, Tantei-kun’ 

_He couldn’t stop his lips from twitching into a smile as he grumbled, “Stupid thief” before making his way downstairs._

A buzzing sound startled him out of his reverie. Shinichi hastily grabbed his phone to check for new messages but frowned when he saw the device silent. The buzzing sound came again and Shinichi pinpointed the source to be from one of the drawers. Shinichi opened the draw and pulled out the identical looking Conan phone from inside. 

He used it only to keep in touch with the FBI, Interpol or any other international acquaintances he’d acquired over his time as Conan. Conan's friends had all been told he's gone to the US and anyone who tried calling the number was met with a recorded message stating the number they had dialed didn't exist. Only those in the law enforcement of a high enough rank and/or directly involved in the Black Organization case knew that Conan and Shinichi were the same and used the more secure Conan line to contact him. 

So he wasn’t very surprised when the caller ID displayed he had a text from an ‘Unknown Number’. Hoping he’d finally get a case that would distract him, he picked up his own pen and notebook. The message was probably in code (because the FBI were paranoid that way) although they used pretty easy ciphers…. _’Well easy if you personally knew the person it was meant for’_ Shinichi thought as he waited for the message to load.

Shinichi dropped his pen in surprise and stared at the message.

_Yo Tantei-kun, how’s America?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse (>.>)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It lives  
> Sorry about the late update everyone

Kaito stared at the phone screen waiting for a reply. He then noticed that it was 6 in the evening or so here (wow he never realized how much time had passed moping)…..so wherever in the US Tantei-kun was, it was probably some ungodly hour between bed-time and crack of dawn for him. He was about to shut his phone and flop back onto the bed to sulk when the phone pinged with a reply:

_KID?! What do you want?_

Kaito grinned as he read the reply, laughter bubbling to his lips for the first time since this disastrous morning. He quickly texted back:  
 _Tantei-kun! Isn’t it a bit past your bed time?_

Before he received an irritated ‘You’re the one who contacted me!’ or more profane versions of the same (the boy knew some cusswords even Kaito hadn’t heard of….it was equal parts impressive and worrying), he quickly typed out:  
 _I wanted to ask you something_

Kaito waited for a reply. He received it a second later:  
 _?_

Kaito paused over the keys, thinking carefully how to frame his next text. Then taking a deep breath, he typed out:  
 _You’re close to Meitantei right? So you can guess how he would react to a hypothetical situation?_

_Are you asking me to aid and abet you in setting one of those horror story traps for Shinichi-nii-san?_

Kaito took offense at the very idea and began to respond that he wasn’t when the wording of the reply made him pause….how did...  
 _Tantei-kun, how do you know yesterday’s heist had “horror story traps” as you so wonderfully put it?_

……

……

_Shinichi-nii-san was complaining about it._

Oh. Right, these two were really close. He was shocked when Shinichi had once mentioned KID’s mother was Phantom Lady…after all only Tantei-kun knew about that. When he had asked how did Shinichi know something even the police force didn’t, Shinichi’s hurried reply was _”Conan-kun told me he heard about it from KID”_ Still, something about this struck Kaito as odd but he couldn’t quite place it. He didn’t think Tantei-kun would tell anyone about that…..

He decided he would have to gamble a bit if he wanted to get Tantei-kun to open up a bit more. He responded:  
 _(X_x) Those traps were_ so _not elegant. No matter how funny my mother finds them_

Kaito licked his lips and waited for a response. He could almost hear the gears in that intelligent brain turning as they pieced together the information.

……

……

Shinichi stared at the phone in his hand. _KID’s mother?_   
Then it hit him, _'Phantom Lady!! She was the one known for terrifying people senseless if they dared to obstruct her.'_  
Shinichi felt like an idiot for not even having considered her. He typed a quick message to end his conversation with KID.  
 _gtg moms here_

He returned to his train of thought, _’She had set up the traps?! Why? KID didn’t seem like the kind of person to ask anyone for help unless…..unless he had no choice…like say…he was being closely watched….’._ Shinichi paused at the thought. _’ Was it just setting of traps though? Phantom Lady would be capable of imitating KID flawlessly…heck she probably knows him like the back of her hand… Hakuba and I are both good detectives. What are the odds of two detectives with almost spotless track records and sharp instincts suspecting the same person of being Kaitou KID?’_

He rushed out of his room and downstairs to find his parents lounging on the couch and chatting.“Ah Shin-chan! I was just telling your father what a coincidence it is that you and Kaito-kun are friends” Yukiko smiled.

“kaa-san! How come you’ve never dragged me to meet the Kurobas before this?”

Yukiko blinked,” Well Chikage-chan is rarely home…she actually lives in L.A. Only her son lives on his own and he said he needed some urgent help for this weekend as Nakamori-keibu’s daughter had planned to go on a trip with her friends and the Inspector was busy with the heist. That’s why she flew in.”

Now that she said it, Shinichi did remember Kaito grumbling about having to deal with his mother who was flying in for a week. And after today morning’s visit….it struck him, the way his mother introduced his father to Chikage-san as though they were meeting for the first time…..except his father had greeted her as though they were old friends with their own inside jokes. And Kaito’s father’s death…the timeline coincided perfectly with Kaitou KID’s disappearance eight years ago.

So that meant….Kaito….was….KID

It would certainly explain a lot.

The amused looks from his father and Chikage-san (Phantom Lady!! He just had….Phantom Lady made him coffee and breakfast? Shinichi shook his head to get rid of the weird mental image.)

The way the usually composed Kaito panicked on seeing the charm on his desk……probably he had been fixing it or replacing it and left it there in a hurry.

The way Kaito tried to deny that he wasn’t KID when Shinichi suddenly blamed him for…

Shinichi crouched down and buried his face in his hands….  
Oh god, he’d just accused Kaitou KID’s civilian identity of being in a relationship with himself. He had a horrified flashback to the first time he’d met Kaito…at that fake heist, handcuffed to Hakuba…..and all the flattering things about Kid and Kuroba... _Kid_ had heard it all.  
He was never going to live this down. 

He ignored his heating cheeks and glared at his dad who looked like he was trying not to laugh.“You! You knew the whole time!” he sputtered at his father who just burst out laughing. 

Yukiko looked puzzled,” What are you two talking about?!”

Yuusaku managed to stop laughing to catch his breath,” About time. And? What on earth did you tell Kaito-kun that had the poor boy looking like he’d been slapped by the one he’d confessed his feelings too?”

“Heh?! Shin-chan! Is this true? Did you say something harsh to Kaito-kun?!” Yukiko exclaimed, she didn’t look very happy about it. Shinichi glared at his father….he needed to escape his mom’s interrogation and fast. 

“What?! No!”Shinichi said quickly, then before she could begin bombarding him with questions, “Say kaa-san, don’t you think you should be getting ready for that appointment with that famous actress?”

Yukiko paused, “What appointment?”

Shinichi feigned surprise, “It wasn’t you? Oh it must have been tou-san then….”

Yukiko turned to Yuusaku, her voice dangerously soft, “Yuu-chan~”

‘Hey kaa-san?,” Shinichi said, ignoring the annoyed look his father was giving him, “I’m going to head outside for a bit”

His mom just waved him off, his supposed fight with Kaito long forgotten, “Go have fun Shin-chan”

Shinichi slipped on his shoes and pulled out to call a familiar number. He needed to set everything right. He had missed a chance in love once due to his own stupidity, he wasn’t about to make that same mistake again.


	7. Chapter 7

Kaito looked disappointed as Tantei-kun didn’t respond even after a long time and a string of grumpy animal emoji. So much for coming up with a grand plan to know Shinichi better. He lighted up as the ellipses showed up, indicating the little detective was typing, but all he got as a response was

_Goodnight_

_’Was that too much of a giveaway? Or maybe he’s gone to bed after being scolded by his mom’_ Kaito thought as he curled up on his own bed. A heavy feeling settled over him…what if Tantei-kun told everything to Shinichi and Shinichi figured it all out? Shinichi would hate him so much….even if he played by the rules and agreed he was off limits when not in a heist, Shinichi would probably just never talk to Kaito again. Kaito shook away those gloomy thoughts…he needed a distraction.

On a whim, he opened his phone again and held it up as he typed in Shinichi’s name on the search bar. He listlessly scrolled through articles on Kudo Shinichi in everything from sparkly gossip blogs to esteemed newspapers.The articles on his disappearance made him pause. Murder in a roller-coaster at Tropical Land…he remembered taking Aoko there once. Hmm, apparently Kudo hadn’t been seen or heard from since that case for a long stretch of time. There were rumours about occasional appearances. But nothing confirmed. Then he had reappeared with a bang when he supposedly assisted the FBI in the takedown of a massive criminal organisation.There were lot of rumours floating around where he had disappeared off to. Theories ranged from intricate reasoning about foreign undercover work (likely) to ‘Kudo is KID’ (yeah right).

As KID he’d expected Shinichi to be every bit the arrogant celebrity asshole the papers made him to be…..but Shinichi had turned out to be so much more. Kaito had head into facing him expecting pride, sneers and dismissal.  
Instead he’d found life, passion and wits so sharp even a mere conversation could end up feeling like a clash of swords. He’d found that same love for truth and justice that had shone in his littlest critic’s eyes. And he’d also found it astounding how the detective seemed to read him so flawlessly….for every step he took ahead, the detective would only be half a step behind. While he himself scrambled to get a read on the detective…only to be surprised the very next time.

As Kaito, he had expected an aloof and cold person. He’d expected to be given the cold shoulder, to be called immature, to be brushed off as not important.  
Instead he’d found friendship, someone who was on the same level as him, someone with whom he can be mostly himself. He’d found warmth and laughter and smirks that made his heart hop, skip and jump and those rare smiles that simply made his heart soar with joy.

Oh God he was a besotted fool. And Shinichi thought he was dating KID.

Kaito groaned. How was he _ever_ going to clear up this mess. Should he run off to America? Maybe Tantei-kun would take him in as an assistant?  
Kaito shook his head, he was starting to go insane. There was only one way to sort this out, and it was all or nothing: a confession.

Hopefully, Shinichi liked him too much to arrest him…

Well at least Kaito could still choose a location and timing carefully…should he go in as Kaito? Or should he meet as Kid? What about-

His phone buzzed with a new message and he immediately dropped it on his face. Rubbing his nose as he picked it up, he almost dropped it again when he noticed it was a message from Shinichi.

_Kaito, I’m sorry I accused you of dating Kid.....I spoke too soon, I was wrong._

Kaito’s eyes widened. No way. Before Kaito could think up a response, another message  
 _Can we meet up at the Haido City Hotel? I’d like to apologise…._

Kaito stared at the screen dumbfounded. Some insane corner of his mind wondered what he should wear to the…meeting? Date? Another message blipped into existence  
 _also, I need to tell you something important_

Something important? What? Was Shinichi going to confess? It sounded like that…so should he confess too? Would Shinichi hate him if he find out he was Kid? Should he go _as_ Kid? Or should he go as Kaito?   
_So…Haido City Hotel’s restaurant at 10.  
I’ll be waiting for you, Kaito._

Kaito felt butterflies in his stomach. The message was for Kuroba Kaito…so he’d go as Kuroba Kaito.... what to do after that….well…he’d….he’ll…..figure it out? Somehow. Kaito glanced at the time; almost 7. He jumped to his feet. He needed at least 2 hours to just get to Haido!! And he had no idea what to wear and he looked like he’d been bawling into the pillow about his tattered love life for hours. (Some part of him snarked that he didn’t have a love life and he politely told it to shut up)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Shinichi bowed once again to the manager of the restaurant, thanking him and apologising for the trouble. The manager laughed it off jovially, “Anything for an acquaintance of Shinmei-sensei.”

Famous mystery writer Shinmei Kaori had received a phone call from an Osakan detective who’d been a great help in her recent novel, asking if she could pull some strings with the Haido City Hotel manager. He was a good friend of her father’s and would definitely help agree to help her or her acquaintances. Besides, if it was the famous Kudo Shinichi that needed help, the manager was all the more eager to help.

Shinichi sighed as he remembered the chain of panicky phone calls. He’d have to make it up to Hattori later. He glanced at his watch; 8:30pm  
Now to set up rest of the plan.


	8. Chapter 8

Kaito rushed through the restaurant doors five minutes late. ‘Way to make a great impression Kaito, now he’ll really hate you if he didn’t before’   
Silently cursing city traffic, he searched around frantically for the familiar face but couldn’t find it. Kaito felt his stomach sink. Had Shinichi left? 

Just then one of the staff walked up to him, “May we help you sir?”

“Ah..um, is..was there a reservation under Kudou?” he asked nervously. 

The lady’s eyes lit in recognition, “This way please” She led him to a table for two and handed him a card too small to be a menu. Before Kaito could point it out, she wandered off to attend to another table. Kaito looked down too find it wasn’t a menu after all, it was a note in a neat precise script that he had come to know as Shinichi’s.

_Hey there Kaito, sorry I couldn’t join you, but I have a little something planned for you. You’ll get a clue after the meal. Won’t you play along?_

The ‘meal’ turned out to be a stunning nine-course dinner, fully customised and wrapped up with a chocolatey dessert that had Kaito brimming with satisfaction.  
When the last plate was cleared away, instead of the bill, Kaito was given another card. His confused expression turned into a smirk when he eyed the seemingly nonsensical group of letters. Whether as Kaito or as Kid, codes and puzzles were familiar ground. He asked for a pen and some paper and began to quickly running through all possible solutions to the code. 

The final answer after a two layered cipher was.... stairs? Kaito tucked the note into his pocket and rushed out to find the stairs. When he entered, he found them about as used as a huge multi-storeyed hotel’s stairway usually is: barely entered but well maintained regardless. His attention was drawn to something on one of the stairs….another card! He rushed over to pick it up. 

_Once upon a time, there was a famous high school detective…_

That’s it…the beginning of a story? No, not a story, Kudo Shinichi’s story. _’I wish to tell you something’_ he'd said. Kaito huffed as he flipped the card and found an up arrow. Just like Shinichi to make him run up several flights of stairs.

“Stupid detectives and their stupid reveals, always doing things in a roundabout way”

He headed upstairs, stopping to pick up each card, listening to the story it told.

“amusement park…an illegal deal…a…poison?”

Kaito rushed up the stairs faster, desperately picking up each note to read on….

A shrunken boy….a life of hiding…a life of watching his love fall apart…a life of losing so much…

yet gaining a precious lot as well......new bonds....new memories....new lessons....new friends...

The last note ended at the roof access  
 _This isn’t the end though…it’s time for a new chapter to begin_

Kaito gaped at the card…still unsure of how to process all the information.   
Kudo Shinichi and Edogawa Conan were the same person. A lot of things made much more sense now. All those articles on his disappearance; Mouri’s sudden rise to fame coinciding almost exactly with the appearance of the boy who came to be known as the Kid Killer. The way Shinichi had seemed so familiar to him on the first heist he turned up to. The nervous ‘Conan-kun told me’ and Tantei-kun’s text-

Oh god …he’d been texting Shinichi that whole time. Kaito was suddenly very glad he hadn’t confessed to Tantei-kun about his huge crush on Shinichi over text. 

The roof access door was ajar….was Shinichi waiting for him there?  
Kaito had never been so nervous about something before. And he was a guy who planned entire heists within a day.He gulped and opened the door, pausing as he got buffeted by the wind then stepping out fully.

There he was. Shinichi had traded his usual suit for a more casual deep blue shirt and dark pants. He was looking at his watch. Puzzled, Kaito checked the time…almost 12:30 am……he had left the restaurant at a little past 11:15pm….had he been climbing the stairs for so long?

“Shinichi?” he called out. Shinichi didn’t turn around; he was now fiddling with something in his hands, “Shinichi, what are you doing here?” He watched on puzzled as Shinichi knelt at something by his foot…was that…

A bright spark lit and was soon followed by a loud whistling wail as the little firework shot to the sky and exploded into golden sparks with a bang.  
Shinichi got up and turned around to face Kaito with a grin that made Kaito’s heart skip a beat

“Fireworks!” 

Kaito’s mouth fell open at that as he remembered his first ever exchange with Tantei-kun….with Shinichi…

But that meant Shinichi knew…Shinichi knew that he was Kid and Shinichi didn’t hate him…instead he had just trusted him with Conan’s identity….

Kaito felt too overwhelmed to say anything. His knees wobbled and he sunk to the ground, letting the wave of relief wash over him. He didn’t even realize how much the notion had been stressing him out. Shinichi knew…and …Shinichi didn’t want to slap handcuffs on him and throw him in jail… 

Shinichi didn’t hate him…

Of course he didn’t…Kaito was being an idiot…this was his Tantei-kun after all, his favourite, most precious critic…

“O..oi, Kaito!?” Shinichi rushed to kneel at his side and hold his shoulders, “Kaito, why are you crying?”

Was he? Oh. He didn’t realize…  
“I …I thought you hated me because I lied about. …Kid…and-“

Shinichi looked baffled at the very idea, as if someone hating Kaito was impossible. He let one of his hands cup Kaito’s cheek as he said sincerely, “I only fell in love a little more”

Kaito was sure he was blushing to the tip of his ears right now. His only consolation was that Shinichi’s face seem to be turning red as well.

“H…how can you say such embarrassing things so directly?!” Kaito would like to think his voice didn’t go all squeaky.

Shinichi pouted at that, “Learnt it from a stupid thief”

Kaito looked at him and they both broke into giggles. Shinichi pulled them both to their feet, catching Kaito steady as his knees recovered from the earlier shock.

“Hey Kuroba Kaito, will you go out with me?”

“Yes, you stupid detective.”


End file.
